Osteoarthritis (OA) involves gradual destruction of articular cartilagemanifested by pain, stiffness of joints, and impaired movement especially in knees and hips. Non-vascularity of this tissue hinders its self-regenerative capacity and thus, the application of reparative or restorative modalities becomes imperative in OA treatment. In recent years, stem cell-based therapies have been explored as potential modalities for addressing OA complications. While mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold immense promise, the recapitulation of native articular cartilage usingMSCs remains elusive. In this review, we have highlighted the chondrogenic potential of MSCs, factors guiding in vitro chondrogenic differentiation, biomaterials available for cartilage repair, their current market status, and the outcomes of major clinical trials. Our search on ClinicalTrials.gov using terms “stem cell” and “osteoarthritis” yielded 83 results. An analysis of the 29 trials that have been completed revealed differences in source of MSCs (bone marrow, adipose tissue, umbilical cord etc.), cell type (autologous or allogenic), and dose administered. Moreover, only 02 out of 29 studies have reported the use of matrix for cartilage repair. From future perspective, aconsensus on choice of cells, differentiation inducers, biomaterials, and clinical settings might pave a way for concocting robust strategies to improve the clinical applicability of biomimetic neocartilage constructs.

骨关节炎（OA）涉及关节软骨的逐渐破坏，表现为疼痛，关节僵硬和运动受损，尤其是在膝盖和臀部。该组织的非血管性阻碍了其自我再生能力，因此在OA治疗中必须采用修复性或修复性方法。近年来，基于干细胞的疗法已被视为解决OA并发症的潜在方法。尽管间充质干细胞（MSCs）具有广阔的前景，但使用MSCs进行天然关节软骨的重塑仍然难以捉摸。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了MSC的软骨形成潜力，指导体外软骨分化的因素，可用于软骨修复的生物材料，其当前的市场状况以及主要临床试验的结果。我们的搜寻使用术语“干细胞”和“骨关节炎”的ClinicalTrials.gov产生了83个结果。对已完成的29个试验的分析显示，MSCs的来源（骨髓，脂肪组织，脐带等），细胞类型（自体或同种异体）和给药剂量存在差异。此外，在29项研究中，只有02项报告了使用基质进行软骨修复。从未来的角度来看，在细胞选择，分化诱导剂，生物材料和临床设置上的共识可能为制定强有力的策略以改善仿生新软骨构建体的临床适用性铺平道路。